COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State baseball team scored six runs in the third inning and the pitching staff made it hold up as the Buckeyes (22-11, 4-4 Big Ten) posted a 9-1 win over Eastern Michigan (11-22, 1-7 Mid-American) in front of 1,545 fans at Bill Davis Stadium.

“Our young pitchers made some quality pitches and got the job done,” head coach Bob Todd said. “We really had one big inning offensively and that happened to be enough.”

OSU starting pitcher Greg Prenger (Fr., Harpster, Ohio) was solid on the mound for the Buckeyes, pitching four shutout innings to claim his first career victory. Prenger (1-1) allowed two hits and fanned five during his four innings of work. Trent McIlvain (Jr., Louisville, Ohio) was the offensive star for OSU, going 2-for-4 with a home run, double and four RBI.

“Playing at home in front of the these fans really gets the adrenaline pumping,” Prenger said. “I’m proud to have my first win at Ohio State come at Bill Davis Stadium.”

Ohio State exploded for six runs while batting around against EMU starter T.J. Delamielleure in the third inning. With one out, John Mayor (Jr., Chesterfield, Mo.) ripped a line drive that bounced off the top of the leftfield wall. Chad Ehrnsberger (Jr., Kalida, Ohio) promptly followed with a single to right-centerfield, driving home Check to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead. Jason Turner (Sr., Versailles, Ohio) then slapped a grounder to shortstop Nick Soliz, who then booted the ball for an error. Ehrnsberger overran the bag on the play, but Soliz’s throw was dropped by second baseman Tim Clouse for another error. After, Ehrnsberger and Turner hooked up for a double steal, Joe Wilkins (So., Grove City, Ohio) ripped an infield single off the diving glove of Clouse, driving home Ehrnsberger. Marcello Garofolo (Sr., Columbus, Ohio) then brought Turner home with a sacrifice fly to left field, pushing the Buckeye lead to 3-0. The inning continued when Nick Swisher (Fr., Parkersburg, W. Va.) followed with a solid single to rightfield, moving Wilkins to second base. On the ensuring pitch McIlvain let everyone walk home, drilling a towering three-run home run over the leftfield wall as the Buckeyes bumped their lead to 6-0.

“He gave me a ball where I like it and I made good contact,” McIlvain said.

Eastern Michigan broke into the scoring column in the seventh inning, thanks in large part to three Buckeye errors. After leading off the inning with a bunt single, Tony Palazzolo scored two outs later when a Buckeye throw sailed into centerfield.

The Buckeyes tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning on RBI doubles by McIlvain and Doug Dendinger (So., Greenwich, Ohio) and an RBI single by Mayor.

Delamielleure (0-3) took the defeat, allowing six runs – one earned – during his three innings on the mound.

This weekend, the Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a four-game series against the Michigan Wolverines at Ray Fisher Stadium. Friday’s game begins at 3 p.m.